Interlude: Hino and Nagafuji

Interlude:
Hino and Nagafuji

 

“AREN’T YOU BORED, Hino?”

As I sat at the shower station, washing my hair, I could hear the splash of a different water source behind me. I looked over my shoulder.

The bathtub at my house was rectangular in shape, constructed of umbrella pine, and took up an entire wall. According to Nagafuji, the tub alone was the size of her family’s entire bathroom. She was floating on her stomach with her arms folded on the rim, her butt fully exposed, kicking her feet in the water.

“Bored of what?” I asked.

“Well, you know…day in, day out…”

Nagafuji gazed around the room at the walls and ceiling, contemplating her next words. She had been in the tub for so long, her whole body was pink, all the way to her ears. I wish you’d spend this much time scrubbing yourself first. Not only that, but the longer she stayed in the tub, the more incoherent she became. I tried to guess at what she could possibly be talking about, but couldn’t think of anything.

“Look, you need to explain your entire thought process when you ask me these things.” I dumped a pail of warm water over my head, then continued, “But it’s also really tiring to listen to you blather on and on, so don’t explain too much, got it?”

“You’re so demanding, Hino!”

I debated whether to fling my pail at her.

“Gosh, where do I begin…?” Murmuring, she rested her cheek against the rim of the tub. She certainly looked like she was trying to think, but whatever it was, I knew it couldn’t be that complicated. This was Nagafuji we were talking about.

I set my pail down and went back to scrubbing, starting from the arms. When I paused to think about it, I realized I always cleaned myself in a specific order. Did Nagafuji do it in order too? I must have seen it for myself not long ago, so I tried to remember.

“I was thinking…it must be boring, washing yourself in this huge bathroom all alone every day,” she concluded at last. See? I knew it wasn’t complicated.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Why did she take so long to think of that? And what did she mean by “bored”? I tilted my head, and my wet hair clung to my face and neck. “No, I can’t say I’ve ever been bored in the bathroom.”

“Then what kinda stuff do you think about?”

“Nothing much. I just sorta space out and think about the last manga I read.”

“Your brain is a muscle. Use it or lose it!”

“Great advice, dippy. You should try it sometime.”

It was baffling to me that she managed to get such good grades. Did she honestly use her brain more than I did?

“Well, what are you thinking about right now?”

“I’m thinking, ‘Wow, someone sure is splashing really loud in here.’”

She kept kicking the water with both feet, over and over and over. In fact, she didn’t seem to realize she was doing it until I pointed it out. “Oh, that?” She looked at her nails, which were as pink as the rest of her. “My feet wanted to help alleviate your boredom!”

“Well, it’s annoying, so tell ’em to knock it off.”

I gave the soles of my feet one last scrub. Then, after I rinsed myself off, I finally headed for the tub. It was so roomy, even Nagafuji’s huge bazonkers couldn’t fill it up—so why, with all this space, did I feel the need to jump in right next to her? As I submerged myself up to my shoulders, I looked at the wall and chuckled. “Maybe I don’t use my brain after all.”

At a distance, the space next to Nagafuji looked so empty. I was compelled to fill it purely on instinct.

“You know, I really like your bathtub, Hino.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah. And I really like you too.”

“What am I, an afterthought?” Kind of a crappy way to confess your love, but sure.

Her legs and butt bobbed up and down. “That reminds me, Hino.”

“What is it now?”

She fell silent, staring straight ahead. Splash, splash, splash.

After a long moment, I repeated my question. “What is it?”

“I forgot what I was going to say.”

“…Figures.”

For a while I sat there, boiling in the water with Nagafuji. Then, when I reached my limit, I rose to my feet.

“I’m getting out.”

“Did you make sure to count to 10,000?”

“Yeah, totally,” I lied as I stepped out. For whatever reason, she tagged along with me.

It was the night before the school trip, and Nagafuji had come to sleep over at my house “because we’ll be busy tomorrow.” As if that made any sense.

“Freshly poached Hino!” she exclaimed as she pinched my bicep. Water dripped from her hair and onto me.

“Quit touching me and go towel off, would ya?”

“Oops.”

She whipped her hair back, sending more droplets flying into my face as the strands slashed at my nose and forehead. Good grief. Scowling, I stood next to her and set about drying myself off. With the two of us, the changing room was a little cramped.

“For that matter, why do you always wanna join me in the bath, anyway?”

Surely, most people would take the hint.

“Huh? Because it’s fun!”

“…You really haven’t changed since we were kids, have you?” Except for your boobs.

“Well, a bathroom this huge is kinda wasted on a single person, don’tcha think?”

“It’s supposed to feel luxurious, birdbrain.” You have weird priorities.

Then, after we had changed into our PJs…

“Pretty bland, isn’t it?” she remarked.

“Huh?”

“Oh, I mean the food here,” she added, having learned her lesson from earlier.

“Ah, yeah. They all seem to like it that way.”

Nothing but plain food for every meal. This was one of many “traditions” that my family was obsessed with, and my parents and brothers all made sure there were never any deviations. For better or for worse, our culture dictated that we close ourselves off to the outside world.

“Who cooks it, anyway? Your mom?”

“The help.” My mother only ever entered the kitchen to make tea. Hell, half the time, she wasn’t even here.

As Nagafuji dried her hair, the slightest motions made her chest jiggle beneath her shirt. Good grief, what has humanity come to? Take that! I pushed them up for added support. In retaliation, she flicked me in the head, then continued, “Whenever I eat that stuff, it never really feels like I’ve eaten anything.”

“Yeah, same.”

“Therefore, I demand a snack before bed.”

“Who died and made you queen?”

Nevertheless, we left the changing room and headed for the kitchen. Surely, we could find a little something to nibble on.

When I walked in, it smelled like radishes—prep for tomorrow’s dinner, maybe. A maid was standing at the stove, tending to the pot. She promptly noticed me. “How can I help you?”

“Oh, I’m just swinging by for a sec,” I told her as I scanned the cabinets and countertops. When I spotted what I was looking for, I snatched it up and hurried out. No need for freshly brewed tea when we still had some back in my room.

Out in the hall, I showed Nagafuji the spoils of my battle.

“Found us some star candies.”

“Ooh, nice.”

They were the same kind I’d seen in passing when I went to pick up our order at the local tea shop. Incidentally, the daughter of the family who ran the place was also endowed with a huge rack. Humanity’s doomed at this rate.

Together, we returned to my room, where Nagafuji’s futon had been laid out. We had guest rooms too, of course, but in my eyes, she was hardly a guest… Why did I keep thinking about Nagafuji so much? Clearly, my brain was still fuzzy from the heat. “What flavor do you want?”

“Red.”

“I said flavor, genius!” I hissed as I pinched her cheek. After the long bath, this freshly poached Nagafuji was practically glistening.

“They’re all just sugar-flavored, aren’t they?”

“These are different,” I insisted. Then I set the four tins down on the floor so she could see them.

“Coffee, black tea, green tea, and…roasted green tea…?”

She cocked her head in confusion. If I had to guess, she was expecting something very different. Alas, no cute pastel colors here—just muddy browns and greens.

“Why are they all coffee- and tea-flavored?”

“Because that’s what my family likes.”

She scrutinized each of the tins in turn, then picked up the green tea and pulled the lid off with an audible shpop. “Oh, that’s a fun sound.” Then she closed it again.

“What are you doing?”

Shpop, shpop, shpop.

“Enough! Just have some already!”

“Grrrr…”

Reluctantly, she set the lid down. How do you always manage to get distracted by every little thing? Then she plucked up one of the star candies, its verdant green color enhanced by her flushed red fingers, and popped it into her mouth. As she crunched it between her molars, her eyes widened.

“Mmmm?” She took a second, then a third, and after she swallowed them, she exclaimed with glee, “These are really good!”

“The best money can buy,” I snarked.

“No kidding.”

After that, she started snacking with gusto. Easily impressed, this one. Meanwhile, I took a sip of my bottled tea, though it had gone lukewarm after hours away from the fridge. “Want some?” I offered.

“Sure.”

I handed it to her, and she took a sip. There was a pause.

“Wait, what the?” She blinked back at me. “Aren’t you going to have some candy?”

“Nah, I’m good. Too lazy to go brush my teeth again afterward.”

“Want me to brush them for you?”

For a moment, I pictured it…

“Don’t be stupid.”

“Well, now I feel guilty sitting here, eating your candy without you!”

Or so she claimed, but she sure didn’t look very guilty with that smile on her face. At this rate, she might just empty every last tin… Quietly, I withdrew the other flavors to safety, lest my parents complain.

“Are you excited for the school trip?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” I shrugged.

“Ever been to the Kyushu region before?”

“Nope! My folks hardly ever stay in Japan for their vacations. Nothing worth seeing, according to them.”

“Oh.”

That’s all you have to say? Do you care more about the candy than your question?

“Where did you guys end up going for your last vacay?”

“Hawaii, remember? I bought you souvenirs and everything!”

“What about before that?”

“Italy! Ditto on the souvenirs!”

“And the time before that?”

“Now look here, you…”

Knowing her, she would keep on asking until I ran out of answers, so I decided to nip it in the bud. She gazed back at me, star candies pinched between her fingers.

“If you pride yourself on knowing every last thing about me, then try to memorize this stuff on your own!” And you had the nerve to tell ME to use MY brain!

I didn’t think what I said was that terribly shocking, and yet she froze, startled, like I’d just hit her with a huge revelation. Then, at last, a derpy smile spread on her face. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Damn right I’m right!”

“Yep, yep!” She nodded, beaming. Finally, it felt like I’d proven myself more important than some stupid overpriced candy. Then she reached out, carrying the glittering sugar crystals between her fingers. “You’re so cute, Hino.”

“Wha—stop that!”

“Maybe I should touch your boobs for a change.”

“Knock it off, you Neanderthal!”

First we ate dinner together, then took a bath together, and now it was time to talk about random stuff until we fell asleep… Perhaps for us, the school trip had already begun.